Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 482: Chapter 478 Secret Color Porcelain

Ma Liwen actually wanted to argue on behalf of his student, but when he opened his mouth, he found himself at a loss for words, and could only turn back and glare at his incompetent student.

Seeing Ma Liwen’s reaction, Ji Kun realized that Feng Yang had turned out this way entirely because of Ma Liwen’s failure to teach properly. Had he noticed any warning signs earlier and provided timely guidance, Feng Yang would not have ended up so twisted!

However, these were not his concerns. He had no interest in disciplining someone else’s disciple; what interested him was Huo Sining’s performance in this competition.

With that thought, Ji Kun couldn’t help but look over at Huo Sining, only then noticing that she seemed to be holding a celadon bowl in her hands.

Ji Kun narrowed his eyes, staring at the bowl for a few seconds, and suddenly a look of surprise appeared in his eyes as the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. He exclaimed with feigned astonishment, ”Junior Sister Huo, bring over the bowl in your hands for me to have a look!”

With Ji Kun’s shout, the attention of everyone else in the room was brought to the bowl in Huo Sining’s hands.

Shi Qingyun was the first to recognize its significance. He exchanged glances with Ji Kun and cried out in amazement, ”This is...”

Huo Sining smiled and placed the only item she had found in the box on the table, and she spoke slowly and deliberately:

”The glaze is transparent and bright, capturing the green of a thousand peaks. It’s green and luminous, thin yet uniform. I think the main reason these people were willing to risk smuggling it out of the country is this bowl because this is a genuine Tang Dynasty Yue Kiln Secret-Color Porcelain tea cup!”

Yue Kiln celadon is not rare, but genuine Tang Dynasty Yue Kiln Secret-Color Celadon is incredibly scarce.

The Tang Dynasty represented the pinnacle of Yue Kiln’s development and the highest standard of celadon, yet even so, genuine Yue Kiln Secret-Color Porcelain from the Tang Dynasty remains extremely rare.

Due to low production volumes, there was a saying that ”commoners could not use” Secret-Color Celadon; it was reserved as a royal tribute and even used as high-grade burial objects for the royal family.

Yue Kiln Secret-Color Celadon is known as China’s earliest ”mother porcelain,” famed for its fine clay quality and the warm and moist glaze, known worldwide for its emerald-green brilliance.

A well-preserved Tang Dynasty Yue Kiln Secret-Color Porcelain piece, over a thousand years old, is immeasurably valuable.

Abroad, such a bowl at auction would fetch at least tens of millions, which is why Huo Sining believed the main target of the antique smugglers was this bowl.

No sooner had Huo Sining finished speaking than everyone was in an uproar. Ma Liwen excitedly asked, ”Are you sure this is Tang Dynasty Yue Kiln?”

Huo Sining nodded, ”Take a look for yourself, Professor. If you wipe off the red paint on the bottom of the bowl, you’ll see the stamp inside.”

Ma Liwen could no longer contain his excitement over the rivalry with Huo Sining, seeing Ji Kun scrutinizing the Secret-Color Porcelain cup so closely, his eyes blazed with fervor. He stood up and dashed to Ji Kun’s side, his gaze burning hotly around the green tea cup in Ji Kun’s hands.

Tang Dynasty Yue Kiln Secret-Color Porcelain, this was national treasure-level stuff! Not just the young students, but even their expert professors had never actually encountered such an item.

Seeing the three professors all excited, envy and bitterness flickered through Feng Yang’s eyes. After glancing at the tea cup, he pretended to be confused and asked:

”I remember the characteristics of Shadow Celadon are quite similar to those of Secret Color Porcelain. Could it be Shadow Celadon instead?”

Feng Yang’s words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly pulling the three excited professors back to reality.

The Tang Dynasty Yue Kiln Secret-Color Porcelain has always been a legendary existence in the antique circle; everyone only knew about it from books and materials, but no one had ever seen the real item, hence they could not judge its authenticity.

Shadow Celadon was indeed made by Qing Dynasty kiln workers imitating the Yue Kiln Secret-Color Porcelain. It bears a strong resemblance in appearance to the Yue Kiln porcelain, so Feng Yang’s guess wasn’t without reason.

Huo Sining knew exactly what Feng Yang meant by saying this, and she smiled, ”You’re wrong!”

Without waiting for Feng Yang to retort, Huo Sining continued, ”First of all, the glaze color of Shadow Celadon lies between blue and white, blue among white, and white shining through blue; adding to this, its porcelain body is extremely thin, and the patterns carved on it can be seen from both inside and outside when illuminated, which is why it’s called ’Shadow Celadon.’”

”This piece of Yue Kiln Secret-Color Porcelain, on the other hand, is ’blue as the sky, bright as a mirror, smooth as jade,’— the difference between them is substantial.”

”Secondly, Shadow Celadon usually features carved flower and piled carving as decoration, while this piece of Secret Color Porcelain has a bright unadorned surface, without a single pattern.”

”Combining these two points, it can be determined that this tea bowl’s color may be similar to that of Qing Dynasty Shadow Celadon, but actually, there’s no relation between them.”

Of course, there was another piece of evidence Huo Sining didn’t mention, which was that when she scanned the Yue Kiln Secret-Color Porcelain with Heavenly Eye, it showed a dense purple aura, many times stronger than the two Kangxi-Qianlong period enamel pieces she had bought, hence this object was definitely not something from the Qing Dynasty, but an item from over a thousand years ago, no doubt.

Feng Yang snorted coldly, ”Then why don’t you say it’s from Ding Kiln?”

Huo Sining shook her head, ”Ding Kiln artifacts have features like rough mouth and tear stains. The rough mouth is the unglazed rim caused by re-firing, and because of the uneven thickness of the glaze, tear stains are common on the outer walls of the porcelain. However, this bowl’s glaze is rich and glossy, the walls free of any extraneous impurities or patterns, which is far off from Ding Kiln characteristics.”

Feng Yang was left red-faced and speechless by Huo Sining’s blunt refutation.

Shi Qingyun, who was standing by, couldn’t help but express his admiration, ”Well said! Although the young lady is young, her knowledge is indeed exceptional. Brother Ji, I am truly convinced this time; Mr. Zhou’s judgment is extraordinary, and this young lady is definitely a promising talent!”

Ji Kun smiled, indicating his agreement with Shi Qingyun’s opinion. Although Ma Liwen had reservations about Huo Sining, he had to admit at this moment that this girl’s foundation was very solid, and she was much more capable than the disciples he had trained.

Discovering a piece of Yue Kiln Secret-Color Porcelain was a matter of great significance. Even after the three professors had examined the tea bowl and unanimously determined it was indeed from the Tang Dynasty Yue Kiln, further testing was still required before completing the appraisal report.

”Let’s conduct a carbon-14 test in the instrument appraisal room. Professor Shi, please come with me,” Ji Kun said.

Shi Qingyun was taken aback for a moment but quickly understood and nodded.

The porcelain bowl was too valuable; once out of this surveillance room, no one could guarantee what might happen.

If the final appraisal of this bowl turned out to be authentic, it would be fine. But if it were a forgery, it could incite accusations that someone had pocketed the item.

Because of suspicions that could arise, Ji Kun had to be cautious. Thus, asking Shi Qingyun to go to the instrument appraisal room with him was to have a witness for himself.